A Far Cry

A Far Cry.

A Far Cry meets the audience at the Historic Naumburg Bandshell.

Since 1905, the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts has presented free, outdoor classical music concerts to New Yorkers of all walks of life. The series seeks to stimulate and encourage new and expanded audiences for classical music in the informal and beautiful setting of Central Park. It is the oldest continuous free outdoor western classical music concert series in the world. The Naumburg Orchestral Concerts is a non-profit organization managed by a volunteer board of trustees; contributions towards its programs are fully tax-deductible.

A Far Cry stands at the forefront of an exciting new generation in classical music. According to The New York Times, the self-conducted orchestra “brims with personality or, better, personalities, many and varied.” A Far Cry was founded in 2007 by a tightly-knit collective of 17 young professional musicians, and since the beginning has fostered those personalities. A Far Cry has developed an innovative process where decisions are made collectively and leadership rotates among the “Criers.” For each piece, the members elect a group of principals, and these five musicians guide the rehearsal process and shape the interpretation. Since each program includes multiple works, this multiplicity of leaders adds tremendous musical variety to the concerts.

A Far Cry’s omnivorous approach has led the group to collaborations with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Jake Shimabukuro, Urbanity Dance, and Roomful of Teeth. By expanding the boundaries of orchestral repertoire and experimenting with the ways music is prepared, performed, and experienced, A Far Cry has been embraced throughout the world with hundreds of performances coast to coast and across the globe, and a powerful presence on the Internet. In 2014, A Far Cry launched its in-house label, Crier Records, with the album Dreams and Prayers, which received critical acclaim and a Grammy nomination. The second release, Law of Mosaics, followed in November 2014 and has also garnered much critical attention, including many 2014 Top-10 lists, notably from The New Yorker music critic Alex Ross and WQXR’s Q2 Music, which named A Far Cry as one of the “Imagination-Grabbing, Trailblazing Artists of 2014.”

The 18 Criers are proud to call Boston home, and maintain strong roots in the city, rehearsing at their storefront music center in Jamaica Plain and fulfilling the role of Chamber Orchestra in Residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Collaborating with local students through an educational partnership with the New England Conservatory, A Far Cry aims to pass on the spirit of collaboratively-empowered music to the next generation.